Chapter 4.6: Dear Diary, the Doctor

Dear Diary, Egypt is amazing! In every way! But I’m getting way ahead of myself. I know there’s a lot of catching up to do since I haven’t been very diligent in writing.

The last you’d heard, Susan and I weren’t getting along and I’d basically been put in my place by Xalen. There was a lot of hurt to get over but when Susan and I began our classes at the university, everything changed. I guess you could say, we grew up a little bit and realized that no guy was worth what being sisters meant to us. That sounds so nice and tidy, doesn’t it? Well, I wouldn’t go that far, but at least we’re on good terms again.

Susan and Theo tried to maintain a long distance relationship, flying in the face of our family’s disapproval. Meanwhile, I busied myself with my studies and continued to work with Xalen. Of course, neither Susan nor I could skip out on the parties!

The more guys I went out with, the more I realized how deep my feelings for Xalen ran. He said I was rebounding after I kissed him that time but now I know I really love him and always will. Sadly, not long after I graduated, his father died and he quit teaching to take his father’s place at the Neptune Foundation in Alpine County. We hadn’t lost touch completely, but I couldn’t predict when a hurried email or text would come my way. It wasn’t often enough for me.

Even though Susan and I also parted ways, we kept in constant touch and I hoped to see her soon. Surprisingly, she didn’t go back to Winchester as she’d planned. Instead, she went into photography and decided to do her own traveling. It wasn’t what I expected her to do, but since when did a Larochette ever do what was expected?

As for Theo, I haven’t heard what happened with him and my sister. Either they broke up, or she has decided not to mention him. Perhaps she thinks it would still upset me.

I have bigger things going on right now than worrying about my former best friend and my sister. See that crummy building that’s half falling apart? That’s where I’m staying at the moment. At least until I can get back to Cairo to further examine some of the pieces we’ve found out here in the blistering desert.

Staying here pretty much felt like camping would, except for the fact that I find sand in places you never should. Thankfully, we have a camping shower with halfway decent water pressure.

I’ve found that coming from Winchester where there was no electricity, running water or any other basic comforts, I’m more suited to this type of life than my comrades. While they don’t spend the entire day complaining, it’s easy to tell how much they miss the comforts of everyday life.

Step into my office! These are some of our most recent finds. These things may not look like much, but every time I hold them in my hands and feel the material against my skin, it takes me back centuries. I can imagine myself in that time, using these things and holding them dear as the very first to own them.

From our campsite, I can see the great pyramids. They look deceptively close as if I could just reach out and touch them. But in all reality, there is a river that cuts through the sand, keeping us apart. For now.

I think it’s high time you met part of my team. Standing in back is one of the most respected Egyptologists on the planet, Dr. Nizam Tammam. He is also the Chief Research Officer on this project and such a joy to work with because he is a wealth of knowledge. I’ve learned so much just by sitting around the campfire with him in the evenings when it’s too dark to do anything else but listen to his fascinating stories.

Standing next to Dr. Tammam is Dr. Nadia Petrie who is our Field Director. She’s leading this expedition because our Primary Investigator had to leave unexpectedly. I really respect Nadia and am so thankful to be working under her direction.

You’re probably wondering what I do? Well, let me introduce myself again even though I did that only a few entries ago. You are now being written in by Dr. Martha Larochette and my doctorate is in Linguistic Anthropology! It was in one of Xalen’s lectures that I found I was fascinated by language, so here I am.

After that announcement, it seems kind of silly, but I’ll show you around the place. As you can see, it isn’t anything to write home about.

This morning, we’re spending most of our time in the heart of what used to be Akpo at what is left of the Temple of Ypmir. Nadia’s team found some hieroglyphics here that have never been translated, so Dr. Tammam asked me to have a look.

It wasn’t in color any longer but I could see it that way in my head as I traced my fingers along the cool stone.

“Cursed are you….. who enter…. here…” I slowly read aloud.

“Wonderful!” Nadia exclaimed with a grin. “Another curse!”

I moved along the wall, devouring the beauty of the ruins with my eyes. Truly in my element, I forgot everything around me as Nadia snapped pictures so we could study them later. Plopping down in the sand, I began to write down in my little notepad what I was deciphering.

Satisfied we’d collected enough for the moment, we hiked a little ways to where Dr. Tammam said there were columns. He wasn’t wrong! They were majestic even though they were no longer complete.

Kneeling near the base of one, I smoothed some of the sand away to get a look at the hieroglyphs underneath. As I scooped sand away from the base, my fingers touched something cold and hard.

“I’ve found something!” I yelled as I realized I should take a more careful approach.

It took the rest of the afternoon, but we carefully excavated several pieces of pottery. I couldn’t wait to get back to camp to get a closer look at them.

Excitement bubbled in me as I moved the pieces about. This was something I had found. Thousands of years ago, someone who created this piece had their hands on it, lovingly forming it into what it was. Then, other hands used it. It wasn’t an earth-shattering find, but how could you not feel geeked about this?

I lost myself for several hours as I studied the broken pottery. It wasn’t until the sun began to go down that I was distracted by Nadia.

“Marty, I’d like you to meet someone.”

Wiping my dirty hands on my jeans, I turned toward her.

“This is Beckett Quinn. Beckett, this is Dr. Larochette.”

After we both mumbled a hello, Nadia continued.

“Beckett is our new PI.”

I could not have been more shocked if she’d hit me with a cattle prod. “Huh?”

“Dr. Doman can no longer work with this expedition so Beckett is replacing him.”

How could this young guy be replacing our Primary Investigator? He looked about my age and unless he was some kind of child prodigy, there was no way he had the experience needed for such a position.

“It’s just temporary,” he explained as I continued to stare at him in shock. “Only until my dad can fill the position permanently.”

“Your dad?”

“Beckett’s father is none other than Dr. Mark Quinn.”

Again, my jaw hit the floor but that didn’t stop me from venting. “So, your dad is the president of the team? Boy, I wish my dad was, then I’d be in charge! Are you even a doctor?”

His expression became perplexed as he said, “Um, no, but like I said, it’s just tempor – ”

” – Yeah, I heard that the first time! This is just great! Do you even know what you’re supposed to be doing out here?”

“Well, yeah, I mean, I grew up around this stuff my entire life.”

“So, what do you normally do?”

“Uh, surveyance. I do surveyance.”

“You keep repeating yourself,” I fumed. “So you tell us where to dig.”

“I keep things safe,” he said.

“Well, don’t think that just because your daddy is in charge, you can tell me what to do. I’m good at my job, so, uh, just stay out of my way.”

With that, I turned on my heel and strode away from him as briskly as I could. The entire time, I was muttering to myself about how some young daddy’s boy who got lucky wasn’t going to push me around.

While I made some dinner, I was still going on about it. Finally, Nadia, who was washing her own dinner dishes, laughed and said, “Really, Marty, I don’t like it any more than you do. Technically, he’s my boss, too!”

“Well, how can you be so calm?”

“I can stay calm beause underneath it all, he is inexperienced and I’m still really in charge even if the job title doesn’t say it outright. Besides, he’s not bad to look at.”

“Hmph,” I said. “He’s all right if you like baby-faced guys. To me he just looks like a blowup doll.”

Author’s Note: I’m sorry that this chapter was shorter. It wasn’t intended to be but then, I caught that nasty bug going around and had kind of a miserable week. I am doing much better now, though. 🙂

Anyway, I also wanted to let you know that when I post an author interview, at the end of it, I always post a contact form so anyone wanting to be interviewed can contact me more easily. What I’ve noticed, though, is that several comments were instead put in the contact form and sent to my inbox instead of being posted in the comments section below. If you didn’t see your comment show up, this has probably happened to you as I rarely delete or edit comments that come through. I just wanted you all to know what happened and that I probably won’t include the form on future interviews. I apologize for the confusion.

Thank you so much for reading and for your wonderful support. I really value you.

0 comment

Ah, Marty’s a doctor now! I’m so proud of her. Congratulations. She seems really passionate about what she does.
I don’t like the way she treated Beckett. He may be young and inexperienced, but come on, it’s not like he did much wrong to her. Marty still seems to be all about her old ways with how she acts and treats people. She needs to grow up and not get ahead of herself that much. I know she’s a doctor, but this title doesn’t make you better than other people, does it? Plus she crossed him out because she still has feelings for Xalen and she can’t see herself liking a man younger than him 😛
Don’t worry about the length, Kym. The fact that you feel better is all that counts, and this chapter is still great 🙂

Thank you so much, Jowita. 🙂 Marty is definitely passionate about what she’s doing. As for Beckett, I can see where you’re coming from, completely. She was really rude and didn’t give him a chance at all. On the other hand, he’s some young guy without proper credentials who was put there by his father, so it rubbed her the wrong way. Really, though, she could have tried to be nicer. lol

So you work hard and finally get into university and attend all the classes at school, spend all that money, do well and earn a degree. Bravo! Then you are lucky enough to get a job on an archeology dig, which is not an easy feat……………………Then, some guy, who has never stepped foot into a university becomes your boss, simply because his dad needed to temporarily fill the spot……………………..uh yeah, what kick in the teeth! can one say nepotism at it’s finest???

Oh I can honestly say her immediate reaction was appropriate! Who wouldn’t be pissed at that? Girl is full of passion for this line of work for sure!

I’m glad Xalen did the right thing and remained just a friend. She had the whole world to explore….literally and shouldn’t settle for the first, err second guy she lays her eyes on. I wonder though, how she will handle this son next……?????

Thank you, Bee. That’s about it. 🙂 Marty worked her buns off to get where she is so the nepotism really stirred her up. lol I agree that it was good that Xalen remained just a friend. I think he is aware that his own life is quite complicated and I don’t think he sees himself as the marrying/family type. Maybe that’s part of what Marty finds so attractive, though. Even though she knows him pretty well, he is still mysterious. Also, she doesn’t necessarily want to get married and do that whole thing either. We’ll see how her future shapes up, though. 😀

Wow, what a time skip! Good job on Marty. She’s got herself quite an interesting career. I wonder how things will play out for her love life, though. Will she ever meet Xalen again!? Will she fall for this young stud!? Only time will tell. 😀 But I’m hoping it’s Xalen…lol.

What an arrogant, hot headed little Biatch. I didn’t hear anywhere that there were no credentials other than in the field he was stepping into temporarily. His father obviously thought he could handle it, since he HAD grown up around it or he wouldn’t have placed him there. There was no indication that he was arrogant or lording it over her. My first response would have been to ask questions and learn as much as I could about his experience, not just diss him automatically. I’m a wait and see kinda person though, however if I were younger, who knows? Maybe it’s that immediate attraction that got her ire up! Ha!

Thank you, Jolie! haha I love your comment. My first response would have been the same as what you said. I’m also a wait and see kind of person. You are more right than you know about the instant attraction factor! LOLOL

Marty definitely is quick to condemn! I know it would rub me the wrong way, too, but perhaps he isn’t any happier about it than she is. I hope she will give him a chance to be a friend, at least. I am quite sure, if he has half a brain, he will know he is in a little deeper than he can handle, and let Nadia lead the way. I know, from past experience (!) that ‘the one that got away’ always stays on your mind, especially if he is older and has a mystery about him! Perhaps, when the timing is better for both of them, they will re-connect, as friends at least, and perhaps professionally. I’m glad you are feeling better, Kymber, and we appreciate you getting this chapter out for us when you are not well! Hugs!

Thank you, Marj! 🙂 You might be right about Beckett not being any happier about the situation than she is. We’ll definitely find out soon. I think, either way, Nadia’s got this. lol Oh yes, I agree about the one that got away and I think maybe Marty is experiencing an extra helping of that right now. I’m thinking they will definitely reconnect, that’s bound to happen. Thank you for your kind words and sending hugs to you as well!

Ooh Dr. Marty! Congratulations to her for gaining the doctorate. It looks like a really interesting job.
Wow, she was kinda rude to the new guy. I mean I get why she would be annoyed but she should have been politer and give him a chance before writing him off. He’s a cutie though 😆 I wonder if he will come to conflict the feelings she has for Xalen…
Great chapter, even if it was shorter than usual 😊

Thank you, Lila. 🙂 She was really rude to Beckett! hahaha You’re definitely right about her lack of politeness and what she should have done instead. You know, he might just do that; come into conflict with her feelings for Xalen.

I suppose it was for the best that Theo and Susan fell apart, but I do feel bad for Susan.

Marty becoming a doctor is wonderful! Considering her initial academic struggles, it’s wonderful to see how far she’s come since then.

I do think Marty was too harsh when dealing with Beckett. Yes, he’s ridiculously unqualified, but it seems that he didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. Hopefully, they’ll be able to come to an understanding.

Thank you so much. 😉 I think whatever Susan is doing (which you will find out in the future), she is doing great and exactly what she wants to be doing. I can’t wait to update you on her!

Marty has definitely come a long way which is why I think she jumped all over Beckett. And you’re right, he’s doing what his father wanted him to do, which can’t be easy for him either. I think they will come to an understanding at some point, if Marty will back off a little bit. lol

Marty and this new gut are not going to get along at all. I sense trouble brewing big time between these two. No little uneducated upstart is going to be giving her orders. She will eat him for breakfast and spit him out and eat him again for lunch.

Thank you, Lil. 🙂 Marty and Beckett aren’t getting along right now, that’s for sure. They might in the future, but Marty is going to have to back off to get to know him better. Will she regret getting to know him? Your intuition about this just might be right!

Thank you, Violincat! 🙂 I think you’re right as far as nepotism goes. That, the fact she had to work extra hard to get where she is and also she may be attracted to him a little bit might all have contributed to her reaction. She really should give him a chance, though, and try to get to know him. It would be better for everyone on the team if they got along.

Ah, I love Egypt!! The scenery is breathtaking and oh, wow… Marty is a doctor now? She’s come so far since the day Xalen found her in that shop (and in that unfortunate attire lol)
Poor guy… why was Marty so rude to him? I wouldn’t like it either if someone much less qualified was made the boss of me, but he didn’t seem smug about it. On the contrary, I think he really didn’t have a say on that matter…
He’s cute though! Maybe he can make Marty forget about Xalen or stir up some drama… Looking forward to seeing where you’ll take this 😉

Thank you so much! 🙂 I love Egypt, too! It’s such a change of scenery from what I’m used to and it’s neat because they can be in the desert or in the city. So cool.

I laughed when you mentioned Marty’s attire when she met Xalen. So funny!

While Marty has reasons (some of which she might not be aware of yet) for how she acted, it doesn’t excuse it. If he was smug about it, she didn’t give him the chance to show it. haha I think she’s going to have to back off and calm down a little bit and give him a chance.

I like how your mind works! Will he make Marty forget about Xalen? I can’t wait to find out!

I like Marty’s spunk. Maybe she will apologize to Beckett after her talk with Nadia. I wonder if she will start to get close to him….another love interest maybe? I hope not. I think she is now ready for a relationship with Xalen.

I’m glad she and Susan worked out their differences and I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us!

So, apparently I cannot read LOL. I thought the last chapter said 4.6. Anyway….NOW I’m caught up! Let’s see what this Beckett will add to our story here lol. And he does have a baby face lol. Hopefully now that Xalen isn’t teaching anymore, he’ll be more open to seeing where things can go with Marty….after he’s done grieving and all, of course. However, part of me thinks (and kind hopes lol) that he’s into something shady! Why else wouldn’t he be able to tell her exactly what he does?

I kinda like Beckett so far, he doesn’t seem overly bossy or demanding (yet). If anything, he seems slightly nervous. Maybe he doesn’t want to be in this leadership position any more than the others want him to be?

See, I feel Marty even more now – I’m a bit of a language nerd myself and I even had a semester of Egyptology a while back 🙂
She’s really defensive, though – wonder if she’s had a lot of troubles with discrimination since we last her :/

I’m glad she figured out what she’s doing with her life. I see she hasn’t matured all that much. I mean I kind of expect that kind of behavior from someone with twenty years of experience being bossed around by a kid. Not so much from someone their own age. I’m afraid she didn’t make a very good first impression.

Okay, so I have a theory. The organization that Xalan is now in charge of is doing so lowkey dirty stuff and Marty eventually has to like save the world from them with the help of this Beckett guy and they end up together. It’s a crazy theory, I know, and it’ll probably never happen but I’m just throwing it out there in case it does and I can just come back to this post and be like “wow, I’m psychic.”

So my theory was incorrect? Darn. Well I tried. At least I still have things to look forward to in the story since I haven’t figured it out yet. 😊 I look forward to sharing more theories as they pop into my head.

About the Author

Hi, my name is Kymber but you may know me by my pseudonym, Rosemary Castevet. I’m an author, simmer, Registered Nurse, Judy Garland devotee, and horror buff. Did I mention I’m currently owned by Cesare the cat? On top of all of that, I’m a redheaded INFJ who is also a vegan. I’m glad you’re here! Grab a comfy chair and settle in for a fun read.